Ariel: 'I will Act Immediately to Abort Civil Marriage Law'

MK Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) vowed this afternoon (Tuesday) on his Facebook page to act immediately to overthrow current government efforts to legalize civil marriages, which is also said to include same-sex marriage.

Ariel's message comes after the bill was proposed by Yair Lapid's party Yesh Atid. The move has reportedly proved a threat to the alliance between Yesh Atid and Naftali Bennet's Bayit Yehudi party, an alliance which helped forge the current coalition government.

"The civil marriage bill which has been filed violates the Jewish values which are the foundation of the State of Israel," Ariel writes. "We are talking about a religious [issue] which has not been agreed upon, has not been signed, and will go nowhere except to make headlines."

He continues: "Anyone who thinks he can impose such legislation harms the Jewish identity of the State of Israel [. . .] I will act immediately to ensure that the bill falls [through]."

The main directive of Lapid's civil marriage bill is to introduce an option for citizens to bypass the State's current marriage laws, which allow marriage only after approval from the Rabbinate, to be married in a civil ceremony. The move would introduce the possibility of legal intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles, as well as the possibility of same-sex marriage.